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AN ECONOMIC CORRIDOR STUDY: THE ECONOMIC EFFECTS OF INTERSTATE 90 BETWEEN BOZEMAN AND THREE FORKS, MONTANA

THE OBJECTIVE OF THE RESEARCH PROJECT WAS TO MEASURE THE ECONOMIC EFFECTS OF INTERSTATE 90 UPON BUSINESSES IN THE CORRIDOR AREA BETWEEN BOZEMAN AND THREE FORKS, MONTANA, FROM 1965 THROUGH 1969. THE PRIMARY ECONOMIC VARIABLES INVESTIGATED INCLUDED GROSS SALES, BUSINESS EMPLOYMENT, AND THE NUMBER OF BUSINESSES IN OPERATION BEFORE AND AFTER THE HIGHWAY WAS CONSTRUCTED. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY INVOLVED "BEFORE" AND "AFTER" MEASUREMENTS OF THE MAJOR ECONOMIC VARIABLES. PERSONAL INTERVIEWING OF ALL BUSINESS OPERATORS TOOK PLACE IN 1966 AND 1969 TO OBTAIN EMPLOYMENT DATA AND DETERMINE THE NUMBER OF FIRMS FOR WHICH GROSS RECEIPTS DATA WERE NOT OBTAINED. WITH FEW EXCEPTIONS, EVIDENCE INDICATED THAT INTERSTATE 90 WAS NOT DETRIMENTAL TO THE CONTINUING ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND EXPANSION OF THE CORRIDOR AREA COMMUNITIES. THE MAJOR EXCEPTION WAS THE BELGRADE HIGHWAY-ORIENTED BUSINESS SECTOR. THE "BYPASS EFFECT" WAS DETERMINED TO EXIST IN THIS COMMUNITY WITH A REDUCTION OF 12.8 PERCENT IN CONSTANT DOLLAR SALES DURING THE PERIOD OF 1965 THROUGH 1968. TOTAL BUSINESS ACTIVITY OF THE COMMUNITIES WAS LARGELY UNAFFECTED BY THE HIGHWAY, AT LEAST TO THE EXTENT OF THE CAPACITY OF RESEARCH TO MEASURE NEGATIVE EFFECTS. /FHWA/